It is desirable for coating compositions applied to aerospace components, such as carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite aircraft wings, to prevent heat build-up of the temperature sensitive aerospace components from absorption of solar radiation. While certain pure white coating compositions may prevent heat build-up of the aerospace component, their pure white color requires a thicker coating layer be applied to the aerospace component in order to fully hide the component surface. The thicker coating layer results in a substantial weight increase of the component, which may be unacceptable in the design of the aircraft. For instance, the heavier component may decrease the fuel efficiency of the overall aircraft.
In addition, aircraft manufactures often aesthetically prefer a non-pure-white coating over the aerospace component. Certain manufacturers prefer an off-white or grey color aerospace component. However, existing off-white or grey coating compositions include carbon black to impart the off-white or grey color, and the carbon black absorbs solar radiation and heats up the temperature sensitive aerospace components to unacceptable levels.